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Recently, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced the soft launch of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) will be extended. Originally, hard launch was supposed to begin January 1,2022; however, they're extending the soft launch period.

With the soft launch extension:

• EVV is still required for Medicaid-covered personal care and applicable supportive home care services and has been since November 2, 2020.
• Provider agencies that are not currently using EVV are out of compliance with current DHS policy.
• Fee-for-service claims without EVV data will be paid.
• DHS has encouraged health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and managed care organizations (MCOs) to continue to pay claims without EVV data until the new hard launch date. This will provide consistency and coordination for provider agencies within the EVV program.
• Services without EVV data will be included in future capitation rate setting development for HMOs and MCOs.
• IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct) fiscal employer agencies will not deny payment for provider agency claims until the new hard launch date.
• The IRIS non-compliant participant disenrollment process will be delayed. Participants are out of compliance with current DHS policy if their participant-hired workers are not using an EVV system during the soft launch phase.
• Provider agencies choosing to use an alternate EVV system that is not certified should complete the certification process as soon as possible. They are out of compliance with current DHS policy if they are not using an EVV system during soft launch phase.
• In fee-for-service, the Sandata EVV system is not a replacement for Record of Care timesheets until the new hard launch date.

DHS will continue to monitor the status of EVV and will be taking additional actions to further promote EVV usage and provider compliance during the extension.

Payers, provider agencies, and workers should use this extension to become more efficient with EVV, streamline processes, and take additional training as needed.

Wisconsin EVV Customer Care

If you have questions or comments about EVV, please contact Wisconsin EVV Customer Care via email or phone at 833-931-2035. Customer Care hours are Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–6 p.m. CT.

Annual Survey of Training Interests and Needs

WisTech is looking ahead to 2022 and would like your input on what training topics you are interested in. This survey will be used to guide them in selecting speakers and content for  professional development trainings. The deadline is Friday, December 10.

Take survey

Disability advocates are reacting with a mix of relief, disappointment, and managed expectations to the recent announcement of a “framework” deal to pass the Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better” social spending plan, which supporters hope will be accompanied by its parallel physical infrastructure plan. The original plans included many disability priorities such as a major boost in funding for home-and-community-based services and a big update to Social Security. 

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• Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) via video-conferencing.
• Chronic Pain Self-Management Program (CPSMP) via telephone and toolkit.
• Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) via video-conferencing.
• EnhanceFitness via video-conferencing.
• HealthyIDEAS via phone.
• HomeMeds via phone.
• Walk with Ease via self-directed enhanced toolkit.

Due to the caregiver shortage across the country, family caregivers are overwhelmed and feeling the brunt of it. Advocates are highlighting three policy changes that would greatly help reelevate some of the stress for family caregivers. 

• Expanding the state's unpaid family medical leave law 
• Expanding resources for Aging and Disability Resource Centers 
• Creating a partial tax cut for qualified expenses 

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Congress is considering legislation to expand the availability of Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) by making additional resources available to states as part of a larger reconciliation bill. Although the reconciliation bill does not have bipartisan support, Democrats and Republicans have historically supported efforts to expand HCBS. This report focuses on streamlining and simplifying states’ HCBS waiver and state plan authorities into a single state plan amendment (SPA), with the goal of reducing complexity for states administering the programs and for beneficiaries navigating the system. Streamlining and simplifying the program would make services more uniform from state to state and across populations within a state. 

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the availability of $3.5 million in Fiscal Year 2021 competitive grant funding for projects that improve access to vital services for older adults and people with disabilities, and in low-income communities. The main purpose of the Innovated Coordinated Access and Mobility (ICAM) Program is to improve access to public transportation by building partnerships among health, transportation, and other service providers. This program provides competitive funding to support innovative projects for the transportation disadvantaged that will improve the coordination of transportation services and non-emergency medical transportation services (NEMT). In the FY 2021 program, FTA intends to target funding for regional and statewide mobility management capital projects that support coordination and enable comprehensive community access, including access to NEMT, for underserved groups.

Eligible applicants are designated or direct recipients of FTA’s Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disability Formula Program, which provides formula funding to states for the purpose of assisting private nonprofit groups in meeting the transportation needs of older adults and people with disabilities when the transportation service provided is unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meeting these needs.

In addition applicants must serve as the lead agency of a regional or statewide consortium that includes stakeholders from transportation, healthcare, human service, or other sectors. FTA requires that applicants demonstrate that the proposed project was planned through an inclusive process with the involvement of the transportation, healthcare, and human service sectors.

Applicants must submit a proposal electronically by December 6. A synopses and full announcement are posted on Grants.gov. 

President Biden is moving forward with his push for the biggest increase to home-and-community-based services in 40 years. The reconciliation package includes $150 billion for Medicaid home and community-based services to help get people with disabilities off of waiting lists and address issues regarding the workforce of direct support professionals. 

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“Remember this because I won’t be able to do this again,” I vividly remember my dad saying as he carried me all the way up the Eagle Tower at Peninsula State Park in Door County when I was seven or eight years old. At the time, I certainly didn’t recognize or appreciate the beauty of the view from the top of the tower or how much work it was for my dad to carry me up and down it. Looking back at it now, I realize how hard it must have been, and, really, how unsafe it probably was for him to do that. As I’ve discussed in previous entries, my parents do everything they possibly can to make sure I get to experience as much as possible.

A few years ago, I started hearing about how the Eagle Tower was going to be redone. It had been closed for a while because it was deemed unsafe. It was eventually taken down. There were articles going around on social media about how a group called Friends of Peninsula State Park was trying to raise enough money to build an accessible tower. They raised over $750,000 towards the new tower and canopy. It was started in 2020 and opened in May 2021.

This summer, many of my friends who use wheelchairs posted pictures on Facebook of them going up the tower. All summer, my parents were trying to find a day to get me up there, but, due to busy schedules, we never could. Finally, a few weeks ago, I couldn’t find care coverage for a Saturday night and Sunday morning. My parents decided that would be a perfect time. Because it was peak time for colors in Door County, there wasn’t a hotel room to be found. I tried saying it’s ok – we’ll get there next year--but my parents weren’t going to take that. We ended up leaving Oshkosh early on a Saturday morning and driving up there. It ended up being six hours of traveling because we had to drive back the same day, but it was worth it!

When I first saw the tower, I was simply amazed by the scaffolding and ramp. The 850 foot ramp swerves up the 60 foot tower. What caught my attention when I first approached the ramp is the width of it. I don’t know the exact measurement, but it’s wide enough to fit two wheelchairs side-by-side on it. Of course, that’s not a likely scenario, but most ramps like that are usually pretty narrow. I was extremely pleased that I had no problem driving up, and people could walk on either side of me - - that usually never happens on a ramp. There are several bench cutouts on the ramp for people who need to sit and rest on the way up and down. What I also noticed is that there are several places where the wood railing is replaced with wire, so people in wheelchairs can see out below. I thought that was really neat because part of the experience is being able to see how high up you are, and, most of the time on things like that, railings or guardrails often prevent the view for those of us who can’t see over. The view from the top is just breathtaking. There are a couple of places at the top where it’s cut out and have only wire fencing, so people who use wheelchairs can see below. The panoramic view is incredible!

At the bottom of the tower, there is a wooden wall and each piece of wood has a name of someone who donated to the project on it. It’s really neat to see how many people donated to the project. My mom went into the clubhouse to get a park sticker when we first got there, and the guy told her that the tower is actually 15 feet shorter than the old one. It was almost as if he was disappointed about that. I did some research on the Internet and found out that they made it shorter because it’s the best height to see the view.

I find it ironic that this new accessible tower is in Door County. Door County isn’t usually known for its accessibility. Many of the shops and restaurants are still inaccessible. I understand the smallness and daintiness of the places is often what makes them unique, but in my opinion, it’s time to make changes so that everyone can enjoy these places. Maybe the tower will influence owners to make necessary changes to their places so that everyone can enjoy them.

It’s really cool to experience something that you never thought would be possible, and know it was made possible due to generous people. In today’s world of so much doom and gloom, it’s refreshing to experience humanity first-hand. What a gift to be able to witness the beauty of humankind!

***The views expressed here are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of InControl Wisconsin, the Network or any of our sponsors.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requests public comments on the Draft of Promoting Access to Voting: Recommendations for Addressing Barriers to Private and Independent Voting for People with Disabilities. Under Executive Order 14019 on Promoting Access to Voting, NIST is directed to identify barriers to private and independent voting for people with disabilities, make recommendations to remove these barriers, and evaluate the steps needed to ensure that the online Federal Voter Registration Form is accessible to people with disabilities. The Draft is available in the Federal Register.

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